Fun Dental Facts

Fun facts about your smile and teeth

• It seems children have the right idea about smiling…they smile about 400 times a day.

• Women smile about 62 times a day compared to men who smile eight times a day on average.

• Each person’s set of teeth is unique much like their fingerprints. Even identical twins do not have exactly the same set of teeth. Did you know that your tongue print is also unique?

• Does the hand you write with affect your teeth? It can. Right-handed people, tend to chew food on their right side, while left-handed people tend to chew on their left side.

Dental products and their origins

Toothbrush

The first people to use a toothbrush were the Hindus of India who used the end of a fresh twig, which was frayed into fibers, in 4000 B.C. The Babylonians in 3500 B.C. called their toothbrush a “chewing stick.” A toothbrush made of hog bristles was used in China in 1600. In 1780, William Addis of England invented a brush used to clean teeth. The handle was made from cattle bone and the bristles were from swine.